35 Bible Verses About Obeying God

So you want to know what the Bible says about obeying God? Well, lucky for you, there’s a lot to be found! And lucky for all of His followers, God’s word gives us much wisdom about obedience that can motivate and inspire us to become more obedient followers of Christ and live our lives in line with God’s will.

Bible Verses About Obeying God

Of all the scriptures on obeying God that I have seen, there are 2 that stand out as being umbrella verses that are over all others.

Psalms 111:7-8 tells us why we should obey (because God is just and good and that His commandments are true and trustworthy) and how we should obey (faithfully and with integrity). Of all the scriptures in this post, if there is one to take to heart, make it this one. It really drives home the point that God is worth following and that only good things will come out of our obedience.

Then, Deuteronomy 7:9-11 tells us that there are rewards for obeying God and consequences for not obeying God.

“Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.” Deuteronomy 7:9-11

Now let’s look at some other verses throughout the Bible and what we can learn from them (all are NLT and all emphasis is mine).

Bible Verses About Why We Obey God

In the Bible, loving Jesus and obeying God are strongly interconnected.

Obedience is evidence of our love for God. When we obey God, we show the world that we love Him. And, really, what better testimony is there? The opposite is also true. When we, as self-proclaimed followers of Jesus, don’t obey God, we show the world that we don’t love God; we make ourselves “liars,” and our testimony becomes something that works against the will of God being done in the world.

Our obedience to God is also a reflection of His love for us. God wants us to obey because He loves us and wants what’s best for us. In order to inspire us to obey Him, He shows us His love. Psalms 105 is a beautiful illustration of this.

And when we obey and see the abundant life that comes out of that obedience, we love Him even more for being such a loving Father. As a result, we desire to be even more obedient. It’s a cycle. A love cycle.

And this love cycle isn’t a coincidence. It trains us that an obedient way of life is the best way of life.

How many times have I had this very conversation with my kids? In fact, I just had it this morning!

We love our kids and want the to have the best life possible. That is why we teach them to submit to authority and follow the rules. It isn’t because we are mean or want to make them miserable. And we do our best to show them our love so that they will want to obey (does it always work? No, but we try).

In the same way, God wants us to obey Him so that we can have life to the fullest. When we listen to the Shepherd and follow Him, we have “a rich and satisfying life (John 10).”

Then, there’s the fact that when we obey God, we prove our love for Jesus; and when we love Jesus we will be loved by God.

Picture it like this – if a kid at school is getting bullied and another kid stands up for him, the parents of the bullied kid will be grateful to the kid who stood up for him. Likewise, when we stand up for Jesus and His ways, His Father loves us and shows us His love.

• “You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 18:4
• “And we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments. If someone claims, ‘I know God,’ but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him.” 1 John 2:3-5
• “‘If you love me, obey my commandments.'” John 14:15
• “‘Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.'”John 14:21
• “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 2 John 1:6
• “All this happened so they would follow His decrees and obey His instructions. Praise the Lord.” Psalms 105:45 (“All this” refers to the entire story of Israel and all of the signs and wonders and rescuing God had done out of His love for them.)
• “I have obeyed your laws, for I love them very much.” Psalms 119:167
• “Your laws are wonderful. No wonder I obey them!” Psalms 119:26
• “I long for your rescue, Lord, so I have obeyed your commands.” Psalms 1119:166
• “And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.” Deuteronomy 10:13

Bible Verses About the Rewards of Obeying God

Before we look at all the benefits of obedience in the Bible, I want to make something clear. God doesn’t play favorites. He loves everybody. And His love is unconditional.

Psalms 89:30-34 says, “‘But if his descendants forsake my instructions and fail to obey my regulations, if they do not obey my decrees and fail to keep my commands, then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their disobedience with beating. But I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him. No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said (emphasis mine).'”

It can seem like He only loves those who obey Him when reading all of the scriptures about how He blesses those who keep His commands. But that would make Him legalistic, like the Pharisees and the Saducees, and He condemned their legalism.

More than our obedience, He desires a relationship with Him. It is through this relationship that obedience flows.

There’s also a practical side to His desire that we obey. Keeping His commands keeps sin and death out of our lives, and the blessings come largely from that (although God gives direct rewards, too). That’s why He gives us the commands He gives us. He wants to see us blessed through obedience to His word.

Does that make sense? I hope so. If you have time, skim through the book of Deuteronomy. It is full of beautiful evidence of God’s love for and mercy on the Israelites, even though they repeatedly fell away from Him.

Now, without further ado, scriptures about the benefits of obeying God (surprisingly, this is only some of them).

• “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” Joshua 1:8
• “Don’t you know that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” Romans 6:16
• “Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19
• “If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 18:5
• “‘I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!'” John 8:51
• “You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 28:2
• “And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed–all because you have obeyed me.”Genesis 22:18
• “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations.” Leviticus 25:18
• “Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.” Psalms 119:165
• “But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!” Pslams 103:17-18
• “And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people?” Romans 2:26
• “But Samuel replied, ‘What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.'” 1 Samuel 15:22
• “Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death.”Proverbs 19:16
• “Terror will grip them, for God is with those who obey Him.” Psalms 14:5
• If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. Isaiah 1:19
• “Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.” Jeremiah 42:6
• “When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them.” Proverbs 16:7
• Deuteronomy 28 through verse 14 paints such a beautiful picture of what life can look like for people who choose to obey the Lord!
• Leviticus 26:3-12 is another wonderful passage that details the blessings God bestows upon those who are obedient to Him.

Bible Verses About the Consequences of Not Being Obedient to God

Unfortunately, anytime there are benefits to doing something, there are also consequences of not doing it. Take paying rent, for example. If you choose to do the right thing and pay your landlord, you will be rewarded by having a place to live. Should you choose to not pay your rent, chances are you will eventually be evicted and not have a place to live.

Likewise, choosing to not obey when God gives an assignment also has consequences. Take the story of Jonah, for example. I’m sure you know it. If you don’t, check it out in the book of the Bible named after him. How much life did Jonah live while stuck inside the belly of a fish? I’d wager not much.

Choosing to disobey God when you know what He wants you to do (or not do) is called sin. And choosing to live in sin when you know better is no different than any other poor choice. There are definitely consequences, as seen in the following scriptures.

Side note: There are waaaaay more verses about the rewards of obedience than the consequences of disobedience. What a loving, merciful God we have!

• “‘But if his descendants forsake my instructions and fail to obey my regulations, if they do not obey my decrees and fail to keep my commands, then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their disobedience with beating. But I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him.‘” Psalms 89:30-33
• Psalm 106 also beautifully demonstrates that God still has mercy on us when we go against Him.
• “But He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.” Romans 2:8
• “‘However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands, and if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you.'” Leviticus 26:14
• “‘I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me.'” Micah 5:15
• “‘But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken!'” Jeremiah 12:17

Now, after all these last scriptures, you might be thinking, “Man, God is mean and scary!” And I was with you for a minute; I even hesitated to include many of these verses. But, if you have kids (or even if you are in a position of authority over anybody), think about how you discipline and train them. It’s very similar to how God disciplines and trains us.

We use rewards and consequences like He does. We get angry when they don’t do what we know is best for them like God does. His anger is just that much more potent because He knows even more than we do how our disobedience affects our hearts and His Kingdom.

Bible Verses About Obeying God Summary

As you can see, the Bible contains many, many scriptures on obedience to God. They show us that:

1. There are many reasons to obey God.
   • Obedience is evidence of our love for God.
   • Obedience is a reflection of God’s love for us.
   • When we obey God, we prove our love for Jesus.
2. There are many benefits of obeying God, including:
   • Life
   • Provision
   • Righteousness
   • Peace
   • Blessings
3. There are consequences for disobeying God.
   • Destruction
   • Suffering
   • Death

Which verse resonated with you the most? Did any of them speak to your life specifically? Let us know in the comments!

Catch ya’ later,

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